BSPC Seminar Carl Heath

BSPC SeminarDemocracy in a changing media landscape: digitisation, combating disinformation and fake news as well as protecting free media and freedom of speechMONDAY 1 FEBRUARY 2021Panel I: Digital democracy: challenges and opportunitiesRemarks byCarl Heath, former special counsel for the protection of democratic dialogueDemocracy is strengthened when we all can participate and are given equal opportunities to influence our common future. Democracy becomes meaningful and important when we feel that it plays a role for us in our everyday lives. When it gives us the opportunity to express what we think and think and when it is exercised with respect for the equal value, freedom and dignity for all human beings.Right now, the democratic dialogue is being challenged by disinformation, propaganda and online hatred. This is the conclusion that we in the committee "National initiative for media and information literacy and democratic dialogue" drew in our final report "The democratic dialogue in a digital age" which was presented to the Swedish Government in late September 2020.Today our democratic dialogue to a large extent takes place over the internet and social media. The internet has made it possible for more people to participate and make their voices heard. But digital technology, such as our social media platforms, has also made it easier to spread disinformation and propaganda. In a Swedish context Russian, so-called Kremlin-friendly, actors are particularly active and according to the EU, more than 9,000 cases were noted within the EU that can be linked to Russian disinformation between 2015 and 2020. Disinformation and propaganda in Sweden are also spread by right-wing extremist groups, the Chinese Communist Party, as well as by other, often anti- democratic, groups within Europe and Sweden.There are several purposes for spreading disinformation and propaganda. One purpose is to try to divide societies and set people against each other. It is also about disrupting our democratic decision- making processes and our ability to deal with difficult societal challenges. Through conspiracy theories and misleading information, science and accepted views are questioned. This is particularly problematic at a time when we are facing major and difficult threats, such as the climate crisis and the corona pandemic. Based on developments in our surrounding world, and given its extent in Sweden, disinformation and propaganda must be seen as a serious challenge for our democracy.A negative aspect of the increased use of social media is that it has also contributed to online hate becoming more prevalent. People who are active in the public debate, such as elected representatives, journalists, opinion leaders and other public figures, are at high risk of being harassed. Women and people of foreign background are particularly vulnerable.My assessment made in our final report is that online hate today is so extensive that it disrupts our democratic dialogue and thus constitutes a threat to the functioning of democracy in Sweden. According to the Swedish Crime Prevention Council, one in three politicians in Sweden have been subjected to harassment, threats or violence, or has avoided speaking out or getting involved in a particular issue. Four out of ten journalists have at some point refrained from covering certain topics due to the risk of threats according to a survey from the University of Gothenburg.But online hate also has consequences for those who are not directly exposed, as those who witness the hatred are also discouraged from participating in conversations. A survey by the Internet Foundation shows that one in four citizens in Sweden has refrained from expressing their politicalopinion on the Internet in order to avoid harsh criticism, hatred or threats. Voices fall silent. Perspectives are lost.The situation is serious. We need to act! In our report, we made some suggestions on how to strengthen resilience to these challenges.We believe broad engagement is needed in order to strengthen our democratic resilience. In order for this to be led in a common direction, to become more long-term, results-oriented and coherent, the government should adopt a national strategy for increased resilience against disinformation, propaganda and hate speech. Actors in areas such the judiciary, defense, schools, research, public education, the library system, cultural institutions, media, civil society and business should be involved.Furthermore, we believe Media and information literacy needs to be strengthened among both young people and adults. Media and information literacy can be seen as people's knowledge and abilities to find, analyze, critically evaluate and create information in different media and contexts. We must strengthen our work in this area, collaboration between different actors must be better and more knowledge is needed about which methods actually work and have an effect.We also state that initiatives against online hate speech needs to be prioritized. It is important that vulnerable groups receive the support that they need. Today it is too easy to get away with violations that take place over the internet. Few reports lead to prosecution and many opinion leaders we have met believe that there is no reason to report. Many also believe that judicial protection is weak and the penalty value low. Overall, a review may be necessary to identify which parts of the legal chain need to be developed and streamlined to prevent and combat online hate speech.Finally, we believe an inquiry should be set up to analyze how democracy is affected by global platform companies and whether there is a need for further regulation. It is problematic that disinformation, propaganda and online hate speech is carried out and spread in places owned and controlled by global platform companies, which are largely not regulated by our national legislation. These companies have a major impact on how opinion formation is expressed through, among other things, the content moderation that takes place on the platforms. Sweden must take a position on how these challenges are to be met.My belief is also that we today look quite blindly towards those commercial social media platforms that are so prolific in many of our lives. It might be time to raise questions on what a digital civic and public space might be. Perhaps we should not only look towards these commercial solutions for solving societal problems, but rather ask ourselves what we all can do to design and strengthen spaces for public and civic discourse in a digital age. What might new and novel digital spaces be that strengthen public discourse and democratic dialogue? What needs to come to be to enable for such positive explorations into the future?Finally, each of us must become aware of the challenges posed by disinformation, propaganda and online hate. We need courage and tools to be able to tell when we see lies and hatred online. We should stop and question what we read and think twice before we spread information further. I believe we must join forces to create a democratic dialogue in which we all both can and dare to participate.